Wednesday, 20 March 2019

A Voter Looking For A Cause

What a complete and
utter clusterfuck UK politics has become. It has been going downhill
for many years, but since the UK voted to leave the European Union,
we have been able to clearly see the disconnect between what the
people want and what our so-called ‘betters’ in Government
actually think we want. Actually, it is far more than a disconnect,
it is actually that the Politicians are scared stiff of actually
having to make a decision for themselves and many more of them are
scared that their noses are going to be forced from the very
lucrative trough they all have their noses in.

It has got so bad
that I now consider myself to be a Voter Looking For A Cause.
Politics in the UK is so fucked up that I really cannot see any party
that I would seriously consider voting for. Furthermore, the UK as a
whole voted to Leave the European Union. Yet these same politicians
seem determined to deny the will of the people and keep us in the EU.
If that happens, then democracy in this country is well and truly
dead and I question whether it is even worth casting a vote at all.

So, in my simplistic
way (and to stop this blog entry from becoming an essay), I will go
through the reasons why each of the parties cannot currently secure
my vote.

At a UK level,
we see a Labour party that will promise anything to get in to power,
knowing full well that they will be unable to deliver any of it. The
so-called ‘progressive’ party is riddled with instances of
anti-semitism at every turn, and has some serious racists in their
midst who seem to delight at trying to stoke up racial hatred at
every turn (you know who they are). They continually roll-out
vaccuous non-entities (who somehow got elected as MP’s) spouting
completely incomprehensible policies, only to find that the next
vaccuous non-entity they roll out completely contradicts what the
previous non-entity has just said on National TV or in the MSM.
Nobody has a clue what Labour stands for or what it wants. The only
thing one can say with certainty is that Labour does NOT represent
those upon which the party was formed over a century ago – the Working
Class. The only people Labour seem to represent these days are the 'Metropolitan Elite'.That they consistently trail the Conservatives in opinion
polls just shows that the people have no idea what Labour stands for
either. Any party that cannot overhaul the complete ineptitude being
shown in the Conservative Party over Brexit is in serious trouble.

Speaking of the
Conservatives, where do we even start with this lot. Elected on a
manifesto of taking us out of the European Union, they seem to spend
much of their time consistently shooting themselves in the foot. It
started with the installation of Theresa May as Leader of their party
(and consequently as the Prime Minister), following the resignation
of the equally useless (and vaccuous) David Cameron. Who could have
believed that Theresa May would go on to make Cameron look like an
absolute genius in comparison. One of her first acts as Prime
Minister was to give platitudes such as ‘Brexit Means Brexit’ and
promises to deliver the will of the people. All things which she
would go on to hamstring herself at every turn. She started by
calling a General Election which resulted in her instantly losing the
comfortable majority that the Conservatives had previously held and
then spent the rest of her time desperately thrashing this way and
that as she fought a rear-guard action against circumstances entirely
of her own making. Her biggest mistake was allowing party members who
had campaigned on a manifesto of leaving the EU, to completely ignore
the will of their constituents and campaign against May to try and
frustrate the Brexit process. The result is a Conservative Party that
is likely to be completely crucified at the next General Election
(whenever that may be).

Of the other
parties, little better can be said.

The Liberal
Democrats have proved to be neither Liberal or Democrats. They came
out all guns blazing demanding that the will of the people be
overturned and that we stay in the European Union. Then they
campaigned vociferously for a so-called ‘Peoples Vote’, or a
second referendum as it should be known. This resulted in the almost
complete and utter wipe-out of the Liberal Democrats in ANY
Government – Local or National. Now they are more often than not
just an irrelevant side-note for most National TV and MSM reports. A
joke to the majority of the country.

UKIP dramatically
and spectacularly imploded as well once the Brexit vote was
delivered. Nigel Farage stepped out of the hot-seat and ushered in a
dramatic civil war in their ranks which has seen them lurch so far
over to the right that they are practically out of the picture.
Leaders have come and gone, whilst members have deserted the party in
their droves. It has got to the point that I would imagine that few
people can even name any of the elected politicians they still have
in their ranks.

The SNP are in an
unusual position as Scotland actually voted to remain in the EU.
Therefore, they are one of the few parties that operate at a (UK)
National level that can genuinely claim to be representing their
people. Though even there, I am aware of large numbers of Scottish
Nationalists who did NOT vote to remain in the EU. The problem that
the SNP have (IMHO) is the person who leads them. I don’t know what
it is about Nicola Sturgeon, but I just want to turn the TV off
whenever that woman appears. She too comes out with complete vaccuous
nonsense and, like Theresa May, managed to lose a considerable
majority of MP’s during the last General Election. She still has
those politicians at a Scottish Government level of course, but there
has been no further elections for the Scottish Government since the
Brexit vote was delivered so we have no way of knowing if her
majority in the Scottish Parliament will be similarly affected until
another Scottish Election happens. While I can see some of the
arguments for Scottish Independence, the fact remains that the
Scottish people voted to stay as part of the Union a few years ago.
Anyway, I cannot see the SNP gaining any traction for Independence
while Sturgeon remains in charge.

The DUP are the DUP.
Northern Irish politics is a political minefield at the best of times
and all I can say of them is that they have the ability to make or
break Theresa May as a result of the alliance they currently have
with the Conservatives.

The Greens I am just
going to ignore as they have only one elected MP and as far as I am
concerned are a party full of fruitcakes who would return us all to
living the life of serfdom a la the 16th Century if they
had their way.

Now, as I am Welsh,
I am not going to discuss Plaid Cymru at a National Level, but rather
from a Welsh perspective (especially as I do have the option to vote
for PC if I wanted to, an option I wouldn’t have in relation to the
SNP) and therefore at a Welsh National Level.

So what of Welsh
politics ? Let’s put that into a bit of perspective.

Up until 10 years
ago, I had never been much of a political animal. Sure, I’d vote
(if I was not away working somewhere), but I had always kept politics
at an arms length. But over the last 10 years, that has changed very
much.

I grew up in one of
the many mining communities that were once common across South Wales.
I was very much working class and very much a product of the working
class. Growing up in the Amman Valley, you either voted Labour or
Plaid Cymru. It was an area that was thoroughly immersed in what we
would now call the ‘old’ Wales. Everybody spoke Welsh as a first
language in the Amman Valley then. Just about the only time you ever
heard English being spoken was when somebody from ‘outside the
area’ found themselves in the village (I can tell many anecdotes of
English tourists finding themselves lost in the village and asking
for directions to places they had no hope of ever pronouncing
properly). Indeed, I still remember the buzz around the village the
day S4C was launched – and the complete disappointment the
following day once everybody had realised that they couldn’t
understand barely a word uttered by that ‘Gog’ that read the news (a 'Gog' is a coloquial term often used in South Wales to describe somebody from North Wales)
!!

In those days
(1970/80’s) there was very clear ground separating Plaid Cymru and
Labour. I know that many were torn between supporting the Nationalist
cause or supporting the Working Class cause. But both Plaid Cymru and
Labour have shifted substantially since those days.

Labour in Wales (I
won’t call them Welsh Labour as they are merely the Welsh Branch of
the UK Labour Party) are not any different than Labour as a UK whole.
The main difference in Wales is that Labour has been in constant
control of most Welsh Constituencies for over a century, and has been
the party in power since the Welsh Assembly (now Government) was
first formed in 1999. They have relied on the old adage that people
vote Labour because it is what their Fathers and Grandfathers did.
But where has it got Wales ? Precisely nowhere is the answer.

Wales has spent the
last 20 years under Labour rule stagnating and declining. We have
consistently the worst Education standards, the worst performing NHS,
little to no real industry and a country that is deteriorating and
worst performing than any other country of a similar size to be found
anywhere in the world. On top of that, Labour spend most of their
time blaming the UK Government for this stagnation and waste (other
than in Cardiff for which there is always an open purse of money
available), ignoring the fact that it is they that hold the purse
strings for Wales and it is they that waste the monies they do have
on hair-brained schemes (that inevitably fail), consultations and the
plethora of third-sector ‘charities’ that leech off Welsh
Government funds, rarely improving the lives of the people they
purport to serve and usually staffed by people who enjoy the
patronage (or are paid members of) the Labour Party. Furthermore, the
Labour Party in Wales seem determined to control every single aspect
of the lives of the population through to their life choices, right
down to what we eat and drink. You only have to look at the policies
and legislation they have brought through to see how the population
have been ‘infantilised’ such that we are rarely able to decide
how we choose to live our lives or have any kind of freedom of
speech, thought or act. That’s not to say that all their Assembly
Members (AMs) are just as bad. I have met a few good ones, but they
are very much in the minority.

Furthermore, Wales
voted to Leave the EU, yet Labour in Wales are campaigning to try and
keep Wales in the EU. How does that represent the people ?

The Conservatives in
Wales suffer from the clusterfuck that is going on in Westminster.
They often have some interesting ideas to improve life and standards,
which I feel could be worth a shot in Wales. But it is highly
unlikely that they will ever have a majority in the Welsh Government
to be able to try any of those policies out. So we will never know.

The Liberal
Democrats in Wales crashed even more spectacularly in Wales than they
did at UK level. Such that now they only have one sitting AM (in
Kirsty Williams), but that she sits as part of the Welsh Government
alongside Labour (as Education Secretary). Now I will admit that I
quite like Kirsty as a person (I have met her), and she has done some
good things in the past. However, I was extremely disappointed that
she chose to take up the offer to sit as part of the
Labour-controlled Government. I am not even convinced of how much
autonomy she has in the role she currently holds.

UKIP in Wales are an
even bigger joke than the UK version. They too have been hit with
people leaving the party and numerous scandals. Not least of which is
the fact that they chose the disgraced Neil Hamilton (he of ‘brown
envelope’ fame) as their Welsh Leader. I have to admit that I
cringe every time I hear either him or any of their other remaining
AMs speak in the Senedd.

Which brings us
finally to Plaid Cymru.

The Plaid Cymru of
today are an enigma to me. They claim to be a nationalist party that
is dedicated to establishing an ‘Independent’ and ‘Free’
Wales. But almost everything they do, or seem to stand for, would
suggest the complete opposite. Their policies are so left-wing that
they are indistinguishable from the policies of the Labour Party.
Furthermore, I cannot see how any political party that claims to want
Independence for Wales can also want to remain a part of the European
Union. The clue is in the name guys:

Independence

noun

freedom from
the control, influence, support, aid, or the like, of others.

Archaic . a
competency.

As far as I am
concerned I cannot see how any party that campaigns for Independence
would want to remain shackled to the European Union. That is NOT
Independence, that is merely discarding one Master, only to install
another in its place. For that reason alone, I could never vote for
Plaid Cymru in any future election (and yes, they have occasionally
had my vote). I had expectations when Adam Price took over as Leader
of PC that the party might actually move back to what it was
originally supposed to be when Saunder Lewis founded it all those
years ago. But Price has been a complete disappointment on that
front. Plus he is one of the loudest proponents for staying in the EU
AND for a Second Referendum, despite the fact that his own
constituency voted to LEAVE.

Conclusion

To get my vote, one
of the parties would need to get reasonably near to what I want to
see happen in my own country – Wales.

I want to see a
Wales of opportunity, where hard work and enterprise is rewarded, not
hamstrung. I want to see a Wales where the people are free to make
their own life choices and be encouraged to do so. I want to see a
prosperous and vibrant Wales where the people are valued for the
contribution they can make to everyday life. A Wales where the red
tape is cut out along with the vast waste of money that we constantly
see on a daily basis. This would bring a prosperous Wales where
enterprise is valued and brings jobs and prosperity to the country
such that our young people do not continually have to leave Wales to
succeed. A land of opportunity, challenge and freedom to choose. I do
not want a Government that constantly hectors, harasses and restricts
what we can do or achieve. I want a Wales to be proud of, a Wales
that attracts investment and more opportunities. An outgoing and
welcoming place, not the tired and delapidated country and industry
that Labour seems to think we want and deserve. I want a Wales that
is capable of standing on its own two feet, not constantly relying on
handouts.

Does that mean an
Independent Wales ?

It could. If an
Independent Wales delivered the vision I detailed in the previous
paragraph, then I could genuinely and enthusiastically support that.

The thing is, is
there a political party that could deliver that ? My vote awaits
the one that shares my vision.

About Me

I was born in Wales way back in the year of 1963. I am bilingual - fluent in both Welsh and English - but can also lay claim to having some limited conversational abilities in French, Dutch and German.
My favourite sport is Rugby Union, which I played for more than 30 years until forced to retire due to injury. Consequently, I am a bit bigger than your average guy in that I am 6 foot tall and currently weigh 170lbs.
I am an accomplished musician having played in several brass bands and orchestras, therefore I can play a multitude of musical instruments.